The Missing Pieces
by Edenfalls81
Summary: Continuing from the stories Out of Darkness and Into the Light. Years after rescuing River from the Academy Simon and the crew ends up rescuing two other Academy students.
1. Chapter 1

_Yeah so I don't own Firefly or any of its characters. Boo-hoo._

_A/N- So this is the sequel to Out of Darkness and Into the Light that I promised to write quiet awhile ago. This one probably won't make a whole lot of sense if you don't read those two first._

Chapter 1

"Simon will you please tell your sister that this is a bad ruttin idea!" Jayne ordered angrily.

"Jayne I've been telling her that for two months, she isn't listening to me anymore than she's listening to you." Simon replied as he side stepped around a street vendor.

Mal followed behind the two men glancing moodily around at the crowds of people gathered on the docks. "This is a bad idea. We shouldn't even be here. I hate the Core, too many ruttin Feds." He muttered angrily.

"You three are being far too dramatic, she's going to be fine." River said as if she were speaking to three small children instead of grown men.

"Mom's right you know. I'm going to be fine. Besides it's only six weeks that's not very long." Reagan Cobb stated as she looked around excitedly.

"Baby ya just don't understand this is the Core, you ain't never been here before but trust me its dangerous." Jayne explained.

"Daddy I know what happened to mom was real bad, but nothing like that is gonna happen to me. It's just a summer ballet school, not some Government sponsored assassin training academy." Reagan replied.

They arrived at the public transportation shuttle then and everyone grew quiet as they took their seats next to the other travelers. Reagan couldn't stop staring out the window at the city spread out before her. She had never been to a Core world before. Maison, the world she'd grown up on was one of the smallest planets in the Verse and barely had a town let alone a whole city. She'd been listening to her father and uncles concerns over her coming here for months but despite their protests she couldn't have been more excited. The summer program at the Osiris Ballet Institute was one of the most prestigious in the Verse, thousands had auditioned but less than a hundred had been selected and she'd been one of them.

Ten minutes later the group climbed off of the shuttle and began the four block walk to the school. The conversation picked up exactly where it had left off.

"I'm just sayin sending her to a school in the Core, on Osiris no less, is a bad ruttin idea." Jayne snapped.

"Daddy I am grown up, I can take care of myself."

"Sixteen ain't grown up Little Bit. Plus I wouldn't care if you were twenty years older I still wouldn't want ya goin here." Jayne replied and earned enthusiastic nods from both Simon and Mal.

"You three are acting like you were the ones who were experimented on. If I'm alright with her going here why can't you be?" River asked.

None of the men had an answer for her and all three of them simply stared down at the ground instead of trying to justify their concerns.

"We've all checked out the school. Mal even made Inara check out the school just to make sure and I quote, 'they ain't recruitin mini-companions from the inside'. She's going to be perfectly safe. And she will wave everyday just so we can be sure she's perfectly safe." River added trying to make the men feel better.

They arrived at the school then, Reagan's father and uncles looked at the place as if it were a torture chamber.

"I'm going to take Reagan in and make sure she gets registered. You three stay here and do not, I repeat, do not interrogate or pull a weapon on anyone." River threatened with a stern look on her face.

"Bye Uncle Mal, bye Uncle Simon." Reagan said happily as she excitedly hugged her uncles.

"Bye Little Bit." They both mumbled, using the nickname she'd always had, but still refused to like.

"Bye Daddy, I'm gonna miss you." Reagan said less happily as she turned to hug her father and plant a kiss on his cheek.

"Bye Little Bit, you wave us if anything happens or if ya read someone suspicious, or if ya get homesick and wanna come home. We'll come get ya anytime it don't matter when." He assured her.

Reagan gave him an amused smile, but nodded. "I know daddy. I promise I'll wave ya everyday."

Half an hour later the four adults were on their way back to Serenity.

"So you read them teachers and advisors in there right? Didn't sense nothing bad bout any of em?" Jayne asked for the third time.

"Yes ai-ren, I read every adult I met and none of them had any nefarious plans. Our daughter was left in capable hands I promise." River assured him good naturedly.

River seemed so sure about the school and Reagan's safety that Simon was finally beginning to calm down about the whole thing. He still didn't like leaving his niece at a school, especially one located on Osiris, but she had worked so hard for this opportunity that none of them could have denied her the experience.

Before long Serenity came into view parked far down on the docks, Simon could just make out Kaylee sitting in the sun on the lowered cargo bay ramp. After another ten steps he suddenly noticed that River was no longer walking with the men. Turning around Simon saw her standing back about twenty feet from him staring off to her left. Jayne turned around as well when he noticed Simon come to a halt beside him.

"Where's River?" He asked, immediately concerned by his wife's absence.

"Right there." Simon replied and pointed to the spot where River still stood.

Cursing quietly under his breath Jayne headed back towards his wife with Simon and Mal close behind.

"Hey bao-bei, there some reason yer standin here not walkin?" Jayne asked as he slipped an arm around her waist.

River continued to stare off to her left without blinking. Suddenly with no warning she dashed off into the crowd.

"Oh gorram it!" Jayne shouted and took off after her with the other two men on his heels.

All three of the men were in good shape, but River had the advantage of being smaller and more able to slip through the throngs of people than they were, this allowed her to stay far enough ahead of the men that they couldn't catch her. After two blocks of flat out running River suddenly came to a halt at the mouth of a small empty alley.

Simon stopped behind Jayne and River breathing heavily after the unexpected run. He had long ago learned not to doubt his sister's reading abilities so although the alley was empty he knew something was soon to happen. Just as the thought crossed his mind a door halfway down the alley slammed open and two people came spilling out of it.

The first thing Simon noticed about the boy and girl was that they were young, definitely no older than eighteen. The second thing he noticed were the blue hospital type outfits both were wearing and the third thing he noticed were the matching red needle holes located in the center of both of their foreheads. Simon flashed back to all those years ago when he'd taken River from the Academy, the two teenagers who burst so suddenly into the alley looked just like she had and with a jarring shock Simon realized that he was staring at two more subjects from the Academy.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Here's a list of the children and their ages, just to make things a little clearer, the rest of the children will be introduced in upcoming chapters.

**Jayne and River Cobb**

Reagan Elizabeth Cobb-16

Eliza Marie Cobb- 15

Grace Rebecca Cobb- 10

**Simon and Kaylee Tam**

Joshua Derrial Tam- 17

Benjamin Jacob Tam- 15

**Malcolm and Inara Reynolds**

Lucas William Reynolds-16

**Zoe Washburn **

Alexandra Washburn- 21


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Just as Simon was recovering from the shock of the two teenagers bursting into the alley the door swung open again, this time depositing ten Alliance security men into the alley.

The reaction from the teens was instantaneous. They moved in unison to put their backs against a wall and then crouched into a fighting stance.

Jayne vividly remembered River fighting that day at the Maidenhead and watching the two kids fight was like that only more impressive. They worked as a team throwing kicks and punches at the Feds so fast that they were nearly a blur. Within ten seconds six of the Feds were on the ground either dead or dying. It happened so quickly that no one in their group had time to react.

Suddenly a gunshot rang out echoing down the alley. Simon saw the boy take the hit in the gut and drop to the ground. As soon as the boy was down the girl stopped fighting and fell back into the wall as one of the Feds landed a punch square across her jaw. The girl hit the wall with a sickening thud and slumped down to the ground. The Fed with the gun took aim at her head, but was knocked to the ground by the boy who managed to lash one leg out and catch the man in the backs of his knees.

River dashed forward then without warning. She ran straight at one of the Feds and used her momentum to jump up and kicked out at the Fed's face. Mal could hear the sickening crunch of the man's nose as it shattered into his brain and killed him instantly.

It seemed that the noise broke the men out of their shock because they all took off after River at the same time. In the few seconds it took them to run to her she'd taken another Fed out.

Jayne and Mal both pulled their guns out as they ran and each man put a bullet into the heads of the two Feds who were still standing. The Fed who'd been kicked by the boy was struggling to his knees when River stepped up calmly behind him and snapped his neck.

The entire fight had lasted less than thirty seconds. The silence that followed seemed nearly deafening. Mal scanned the ground in a panic realizing that they were on a Core planet and standing in an alley with the corpses of ten Alliance agents. He quickly pulled out his comm unit and frantically punched the button.

"Kaylee! Kaylee!" He whispered urgently.

"Here Mal, what's up?" She asked cheerily.

"Get us ready to take off fast as you can, we'll be there in less than five minutes and I wanna be off this rock in six!" He ordered.

"What's wrong?" She asked hearing the panic in his voice.

"Just get us ready to fly mei-mei!" He replied and snapped off the comm unit.

While Mal was on the comm Simon hurried over to the boy who was now lying still and bleeding profusely. Jayne and River watched the mouth of the alley, ready to act if someone happened towards them.

"It's alright son just stay still. I'm a doctor, I'm going to help you." Simon said soothingly.

The boy looked up at Simon, his eyes wide with panic and fright. Simon was suddenly struck by how familiar the boy looked to him. He was around sixteen with dark hair and blue eyes and looked very much like Simon's oldest son Josh.

The boy reached out frantically and grabbed onto Simon's arm holding it tightly.

"My sister, please help her." He whispered urgently to Simon.

"She's fine." Simon assured the frightened boy.

"Please don't let them take her again, you have to keep her safe. You have to help her she can't…" He trailed off as he lost consciousness.

"I won't let them take her." Simon promised, vividly remembering when he'd been in the same situation with his own sister.

"We need ta leave now Simon, can we move him?" Mal asked pulling Simon from his thoughts.

"Well we shouldn't but we don't have any choice, so yes we can move him." Simon replied.

"How are we gonna get him to the ship? We take him out there like that and someone's gonna notice." Jayne pointed out and gestured to the blood covering the boy's shirt.

"Here put this on him." Mal said and pulled off his brown duster that he still wore.

They worked quickly to slip the coat onto the now unconscious boy and buttoned it up so that it was covering the blood stains. Jayne and River each took one of the boy's arms and slung them over their shoulders. To anyone on the street it would appear that they were helping a drunk kid home from the bar.

Jayne and River started down the alley towards the ship while Mal began pulling the bodies of the Feds behind a dumpster where they wouldn't be found so easily.

Once the boy was gone Simon turned to the girl who was still unconscious from the hit she had taken to the jaw. Simon turned her over and was even more shocked when he saw her face. The resemblance to River and Reagan was impossible to miss, in fact Simon thought she could easily pass for Reagan's twin. Not allowing himself the time to really think about what it could mean Simon began to tap her cheek hoping that he could wake her up so that they wouldn't have to carry both of them to the ship.

The girl's eyes suddenly snapped open and she jumped away from Simon in panic. She didn't try to fight him, but she did put both of her arms out in front of her. There was something so familiar in her movements that it made Simon's stomach fill with a cold dread when he realized the girl couldn't see.

"It's alright I'm not going to hurt you. Your brother was shot and he needs help, I'm a doctor I can help him, but we need to take him to my ship. He asked me to take care of you." Simon whispered softly trying hard to reassure the frightened blind girl.

"Is he alive?" The girl whispered sounding so scared and alone that in nearly broke Simon's heart.

"Yes but its serious, we need to hurry. I promise if you come with me I won't let them take you back there." Simon whispered and reached out to touch the girl's hand. He didn't grab her arm and try to lead her away, he remembered all too clearly how much he'd hated when people had done that to him when he'd been blind.

After only a moment's hesitation the girl grasped Simon's hand tightly and allowed him to help her to her feet. She swayed dizzily for a moment, but quickly found her footing and grasped Simon's arm so that he could lead her out of the alley.

Mal caught up to Simon and the young girl at the mouth of the alley. Hearing Mal's pounding footsteps behind them made the girl jump in fear.

"Don't worry he's a friend and the captain of the ship we're going to." Simon assured her quickly.

Jayne and Simon made it almost all the way to the ship without anyone commenting on the unconscious boy they were half carrying and half dragging. Just when Jayne began to think they were in the clear a dock official stopped them.

"S'he ok?" The man asked and gestured to the boy.

"No he ain't ok. The boys gonna get whupped somethin fierce when he wakes up. Can ya believe he's only sixteen and I find him wasted in a brothel. If I don't kill 'im when he wakes up his ma might." Jayne replied angrily and gestured towards River who gave the boy an angry glare of her own.

"Gotta wonder what the Verse is comin to sometimes don't ya?" The dock official said sympathetically. "You folks try and have a good day. Good luck with yer son."

Jayne and River nodded politely and then hurried into the ship. Kaylee was waiting anxiously in the cargo bay when they walked in.

"Oh my god Josh! What happened to him?" Kaylee yelled suddenly.

Jayne realized that with the boys head hanging down the way it was this boy did look nearly identical to his nephew.

"What ma I'm fine." Josh called from the catwalk. He'd run in when he'd heard his mother shouting his name.

"That's not Josh? Who is he? Where's Simon and Mal?" Kaylee rushed.

"Tell ya all bout it once we're in the air. Right now we gotta get him to the infirmary. Josh come give me a hand." Jayne called up to his nephew, who hurried down the stairs and helped Jayne carry the unconscious boy to the infirmary.

River began to follow them to the infirmary but stopped when Jayne looked at her.

"Bao-bei we'll take care a the kid. You need ta get us ready to lift off." He instructed his wife gently.

River looked like she wanted to protest for a second, but nodded and hurried to the bridge.

Mal and Simon hurried into the ship while trying to look like they weren't hurrying. As soon as they were in Mal slammed his fist down on the button that would close the cargo bay door. As soon as the doors were closed the girl lost consciousness and fell into Simon's arms. When he picked her up Simon felt a large knot on the back of her head and realized that she must have hit her head on the wall when she'd been punched. Judging from the size of the lump Simon figured she had a fairly serious concussion and wondered how she had managed to walk on her own to the ship.

"Dad? You alright?" Luke asked worriedly as he came into the cargo bay.

"I'm fine." Mal assured his son and then picked the girl up from Simon's arms. "You get to work on the boy and I'll bring her to the infirmary." He said to the doctor. "Luke go tell River we need to be off the ground now." He called over his shoulder.

As soon as the words left his mouth Mal felt the gravity shift as Serenity lifted off the planet.

"Alright never mind." He called and continued on to the infirmary. When he entered the room he found Simon already at work on the boy.

"How's it look Doc?" Mal asked as he set the girl down on the other exam bed.

"I won't know until I take a scan, but I think he'll make it. I'm gonna have to operate to get the bullet out. Thank God I stocked up the infirmary before we made this trip." Simon replied.

"Uncle Simon you need help?" Luke asked as he leaned in the doorway.

Simon nodded without looking up from what he was doing. "Thanks Luke."

Luke walked to the sink and washed his hands before snapping on a pair of gloves expertly. Luke had been helping his Uncle Simon in the infirmary since he was ten years old, he'd always dreamed of being a doctor and was lucky enough to have an amazing doctor as an uncle, who he could learn from.

Mal moved over to the counter where they had laid the girl down. Using a wet cloth Mal wiped the blood away from her lip where it had been split by the Fed's blow. After cleaning her face up he pulled an icepack of a cabinet and broke the seal to freeze it. He slipped the icepack under her head onto the large knot that was continuing to swell on the back of her skull. Not knowing what else to do for the girl Mal took a few moments to stare down at her. She looked so much like Reagan it was eerie and Mal felt gooseflesh raise on his arms when he thought about what the resemblance might mean.

Feeling aggravated but having nothing else to do Mal left the infirmary and walked up to the galley where he paced nervously back and forth. Within fifteen minutes River and Jayne joined him.

"It look like anyone's followin River?" Mal asked.

"Not so far, we got away clear and there's no chatter on the wave channels." She assured him.

"Good. What about Reagan? You want us to head back so we can pick her up?" Mal asked and received a vigorous nod from Jayne.

"No turning back will be more dangerous than going home. Besides she's worked far too hard for us to make her leave now." River replied stubbornly.

Mal sank down onto a couch and suddenly realized how tired he was. He wasn't as young as he used to be and he'd been a rancher for the last fifteen years, he wasn't used to the life and death struggles that used to plague the crew so regularly.

"So guess that means we head home to Maison then." Mal decided and watched as River left to set their course.

Jayne sat down heavily on the couch next to Mal and put his head in his hands.

"Ain't had go-se like this happen fer a long time huh? Seems kinda like the old days fore the kids were born." Jayne commented.

"Yeah the days when we ate moldy protein and got shot every other week." Mal pointed out.

"Yep those would be the days I'm referring to." Jayne said with a short ironic chuckle.

"We're gonna have to be careful Jayne, if these kids are as messed up as River was when they first came on board, we'll need ta keep a close eye on em." Mal commented.

"Yeah I thought a that too." Jayne replied and stood up with a groan. "I'm gonna go check on River." He explained as he left the room.

Simon finished surgery on the boy two hours later. He leaned against the counter and took a deep breath, it had been a long time since he'd had to remove a bullet from someone, but was pleased to find that he hadn't lost his touch.

"You need anymore help Uncle Simon?" Luke asked as he removed his gloves.

"No I can handle the rest by myself, thank you for your help Luke, you did wonderfully." Simon commented and was pleased to see the beaming smile of pride brighten the young man's face.

"Alright I'm gonna go find my dad then and find out what the plan is. Call me if ya need me." Luke said as he left.

Simon turned to the still unconscious girl and set up the neural imager he'd bought years ago and installed on Serenity. After scanning the girl he also took a scan of the boy, anxious to read the results and see just how badly the Academy had damaged them. He also took a blood sample from each of the teens.

"How are they?" River asked from the doorway.

"Um stable. I won't know much more than that until I have a chance to go over their test results." Simon commented as he began to run a blood scan on both of them.

River walked cautiously over to where the girl lay and gently brushed a strand of hair off of her face.

"She looks like Reagan." River whispered softly.

"I know she does mei-mei." Simon answered as he read the blood test results.

"Is she mine Simon? I mean are they my children? I have to know." She asked, her voice trembling.

"Alright well I'll need to take a blood sample from you so I can compare the DNA, the samples I have in the computer are too old to be any good." Simon explained and gestured to the stool so that River could sit while he drew the blood.

Simon saw the familiar look in River's eyes when he approached her with the needle. Even after all the time that had passed since she'd been in the Academy she still feared needles and medical procedures more than anything else. He took the blood as quickly as possible and then ran it through the scanner along with the samples he'd taken from the Academy students.

They sat in an uncomfortable silence for the few minutes it took for the test to run. River paced the small infirmary nervously as Simon read the results of the scan. Once he was finished he looked up at his sister, his neutral expression revealing nothing.

"Well? Simon are they mine?" She whispered.

Simon walked over and pulled River into his arms and held her tightly.

"They are mei-mei, both of them are your children." He replied, confirming what in her heart River already knew.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

River pulled away from her brother and walked over so that she was standing between the two beds.

"River are you alright? I know this is a shock." Simon stammered, not sure what he could possibly say to his sister to make this easier.

"I should have known Simon. How could I have two children and not know about them, I'm a reader I- I- should have known." She whispered her voice cracking with unshed tears.

"Mei-mei how could you have possibly known? This isn't your fault." He comforted and put a hand on her shoulder.

River shrugged off his hand and stepped away from him.

"No Simon I should have known." She argued unwilling to allow herself to be free of her guilt.

"River there's something else I should tell you. The girl, she's blind, I don't know why yet, but she can't see." He informed her sadly.

"Are you sure, maybe it was just from the head injury, a temporary shock to her system." River asked hopefully.

"No mei-mei it's not from the concussion, when she woke up she wasn't surprised or frightened about not being able to see. And the way she moved she's obviously had time to adjust to the disability." Simon explained. "I'll do everything I can to help her, I promise."

River nodded and gave her brother a grateful smile. Simon knew better than anyone what it was like to be unable to see and River knew that if there was anything to be done for her daughter Simon would find a way to do it.

"Thank you Simon." She whispered as she continued to stare at the two children she'd never known.

"What about everyone else? Should I tell them?" Simon asked uncomfortably.

River nodded, but didn't speak to him again. Simon backed quietly from the room and headed up to the galley where he figured he'd find everyone else. Having guessed correctly Simon found the rest of his family sitting around the table.

"How are they ai-ren?" Kaylee asked and rose to kiss her husband.

"They're both alive and stable, but they haven't regained consciousness yet." Simon explained and wearily dropped into a seat.

"So are we headed back to Maison?" He asked after a few seconds.

"Yeah didn't see that we had much other choice." Mal answered.

"I have to… there's something I have to tell all of you." Simon began.

"The two Academy students, they're River's. They're her children." He revealed.

His announcement was met by silent shock from everyone at the table.

"They're Aunt River's, but how is that even possible?" Josh asked.

"Remember when River need surgery after Grace was born? When I did the surgery I discovered scars on both of her ovaries, the kind of scars you find when a woman has had eggs removed for artificial insemination. I had no idea that the Academy had actually used the eggs that they took from her, but apparently they did." Simon explained.

"Well that explains why that girl looks like a carbon copy of Reagan and the boy looks like Josh." Mal said.

"He looks like me?" Josh asked sounding surprised, he hadn't gotten a good look at the boy when they'd brought him in.

"Could be yer brother." Mal confirmed.

"So what are we gonna do with them?" Luke asked.

"I guess that's up to River and Jayne." Simon replied.

Simon noticed that Jayne had been strangely silent during the conversation and when the doctor looked over he saw that Jayne was staring off into the distance.

"Jayne are you alright?" Simon asked quietly.

"Yeah why wouldn't I be?" He answered gruffly. "How's River?"

"Honestly I don't know, she didn't say much. She's blaming herself. She thinks she should have known about them." Simon replied.

Jayne pushed his chair away from the table and stood up abruptly, stalking from the room without saying another word.

He found River sitting in the infirmary crying quietly.

"Bao-bei you alright?" He asked.

"I'm fine Jayne." She said quickly and wiped the tears from her cheeks.

"Ya know this ain't yer fault don't ya?" Jayne asked and pulled River up from her seat and into his arms.

"I was there for three years and it nearly destroyed me, they've been there their entire lives, how will they ever move past that." She sobbed against her husband's shoulder.

"I don't know bao-bei, but I learned a long time ago that if ya got a family around to love ya and be there for ya, well you can get over a lot. And now these kids are finally gonna have a family, so we'll just do whatever we have to ta help em."

River looked up at her husband with wide disbelieving eyes. "Family? You mean you want them even if they aren't yours?"

"Hey they're yours ain't they? That makes em mine too, even if it ain't by blood." Jayne replied confidently.

"It will be difficult." River pointed out.

"Yeah and like the three girls we got now ain't difficult? Hell if we can handle them we can handle anything." Jayne replied with a chuckle.

River wrapped her arms around Jayne's large form and squeezed him tightly.

"How did you know I would want them to join our family?" She asked.

"Hell girl we been married for sixteen years, ya don't think I know ya by now? Family's the most important thing to ya and these two are family, no way you'd ever leave em behind."

"Thank you ai-ren. You're a wonderful man." She whispered into his chest.

"What yer just now figurin that out?" He teased gently.

"Maybe I'm a slow learner." She replied with a genuine smile on her face.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Five hours after Jayne left River in the infirmary he checked back in and found her asleep in a chair with her head resting on the palm of her hand. Since it didn't appear that either of the teens would be waking up anytime soon, he carefully picked up his wife and carried her to their bunk. Halfway down the hall he met Simon who was heading in the direction of the infirmary.

"Were they awake when you went in?" Simon whispered so as not to wake his sister.

"Nope both of em still seemed dead to the world. Figured I'd take her to get some sleep in a real bed." Jayne replied.

"Well I'll go in for awhile and sit with them. I want to read over their scans anyway." Simon commented as he continued towards the infirmary.

Simon looked up sometime later when he was interrupted by a knock on the door.

"Hey dad how's it goin?" Josh asked quietly as he stepped into the room.

"It's alright, I'm just trying to figure out what exactly the Academy may have done to them." Simon explained as he gestured towards the scanner results he was studying.

Josh stepped further into the room and stared down at the sleeping boy. "Damn this is weird. He really does look like me. I mean he looks more like me than Ben does."

"Well your brother takes after your mother and you look more like me. But I have to admit the resemblance is striking." Simon agreed.

Josh stepped away from the boy and looked over to the sleeping girl. "She looks just like Reagan, cept this girl has red hair and Reagan's got brown. Other than that they could be twins."

"Hey Uncle Simon ya need any help?" Luke asked interrupting the father and son.

"No thank you Luke I'm fine." Simon replied kindly.

"Alright just checkin. Hey Josh poker in the galley?" He asked.

Josh grinned and nodded. "Sounds good, we bettin fer chores?"

Luke returned his grin. "Course we are and I'm bettin you'll be muckin out stables when we get home."

Simon had to smile as he listened to the boys' bickering fade away down the hall. The two boys were less than a year apart in age and had been best friends since before they could walk.

Once the boys were gone Simon stood up and checked the vital signs on both of his patients and was relieved to see that both of them seemed to be doing well. He was worried about how long the girl had been unconscious, but her brain waves were reading normally indicating that she was asleep and not in a coma. Simon pulled out a small penlight and shined it in first one eye then the other. Both of her eyes dilated normally when exposed to the light, which was a good sign when it came to the concussion, but a strange one considering that the girl couldn't see. Whatever was causing her blindness it didn't seem to be a problem with her eyes.

Sighing in frustration Simon returned to the scans and resumed his work. He wasn't interrupted again for another three hours, that time it was Mal knocking on the door to the infirmary.

"They wake up yet?" He asked from the doorway.

"Not yet." Simon snapped bluntly without looking up at Mal.

"Somethin wrong Doc? Ya seem kinda put out." Mal commented.

Simon sighed and rubbed his hands over his eyes tiredly.

"Sorry I didn't mean to snap at you. It's just something I just found on the scan…" Simon trailed off sounding angrier than Mal had heard him in many years.

"What? What did you find?" Mal asked.

Simon punched a few buttons on the screen before him and brought up a neural image of a brain.

"This is a scan of a healthy brain, one that hasn't been tampered with." Simon explained and then pushed another button which brought up a new image next to the first one.

"And this is a scan I took of the girl's brain." He said and pointed to the scan. "Do you see this area on the normal brain that's missing on the scan of hers?" Simon asked and indicated an area of the brain that was indeed missing on the scan of the girl's brain.

"Yeah is that the thing they took outta River's brain too?" Mal asked.

"No that isn't the amygdala, it's the occipital lobe." Simon replied.

"Alright I ain't the doctor you are, what's the occipi-whatever do?" Mal asked.

"It's the part of the brain that receives visual stimuli. The part of the brain that allows us to see. Hers was removed on purpose. Those lines right there are scalpel scars. The Academy blinded this girl on purpose." He said bitterly and snapped off the scan.

"Why would they do that?" Mal asked sounding shocked and angry.

"I don't know, but why would they do any of the things that they've done to innocent people?" Simon asked bitterly.

Simon could barely control the rage that was making him feel like his blood was boiling. The very thought of a doctor purposefully injuring someone went against everything he stood for. Plus Simon had spent five years of his life blind and he knew what a devastating disability it was. Too think that a doctor would purposefully blind someone was almost more than he could stand.

"Is there anything you can do to help her?" Mal asked quietly.

Simon shook his head miserably and finally looked up at Mal. "Not a damn thing, she'll never see again. I couldn't fix what the Academy did to River and now I can't fix what they did to one of her daughter's."

Simon stood up abruptly and practically ran from the room. Mal quickly followed him to the galley where he found Simon rummaging around in one of the top food storage lockers. After a few seconds he stepped back with a large bottle of whiskey clutched in his hand.

"I had a feeling Jayne probably left a bottle of something on board." Simon explained as he brushed the dust off the bottle. "You want a drink Mal?" He asked.

"Hell yeah I do." Mal agreed and plopped down in a chair. Simon joined him a second later and put a glass down in front of Mal which he then filled.

"You know I thought I'd left all this behind. I mean River recovered and it's been so long since we've had anything like this happen. I was happy just being a small town family doctor. I don't know if I have the strength to do it again." Simon muttered and then drained his glass in one long drink.

"This time you got a whole lot more people who'll help ya. You won't be doin it on yer own." Mal said reassuringly.

Simon nodded and poured himself another glass of whiskey. "Yeah I know. It's just monstrous what they did to that girl, how will she ever recover from that?"

Mal remained silent not able to think of even one thing to say that might make the doctor feel better. He had to agree with Simon, to purposefully blind someone was barbaric in a way that made him feel the need for serious violence against the hun-dan who could do something like that.

Simon finished his second drink and stood up wearily. "I should get back in there. I haven't even gone over the boy's scans yet."

"Don't work all night Simon, you ain't gonna be able to fix em by tomorrow no matter what ya do." Mal reminded him.

Simon nodded sadly before turning around and heading back to the infirmary. When he returned to the room he once again checked the kids' vitals.

It was while he was taking the girl's pulse that she woke up. She sat up quickly and scrambled away from Simon's touch. She sat curled into a tight ball with her back pressed against the wall.

"Don't worry you're safe." Simon assured her softly.

He saw the girl breathing deeply and realized that the medicinal smell of the infirmary was probably much like that of the Academy.

"You aren't in the Academy, you're on a ship in the Black." Simon explained.

"Where's Az?" She whispered.

"Az is your brother?" Simon asked and received and nod from the frightened girl.

"He's right here. He was shot in the abdomen, but I was able to remove the bullet and his vitals are strong." Simon explained.

"I can't sense him at all." She whimpered.

"I'm heavily sedating him, but I promise he's alive."

Moving slowly so that he wouldn't frighten her Simon placed his arm around her waist and helped her down from the counter and over to the exam table where her brother was lying. He helped guide her hand to her brother and she sobbed with relief when she was able to grasp her brother's hand in her own. Simon pulled the stool over and guided her to sit down.

"You'll need to take it slow for a few days. You've got a serious concussion and you've been unconscious for nearly eight hours." Simon explained.

The girl nodded but seemed entirely focused on her brother and didn't seem to be hearing Simon.

"I need to run a few cognitive tests on you just to make sure you're recovering from the concussion. Would that be alright?" Simon asked tentatively, not wanting to frighten her again.

"Alright." She whispered and patiently answered the questions he used to test for cognitive impairment.

"Well everything seems to be working just fine. I'd say there's no permanent damage from the knock your head took." He informed her when he was finished.

"Sir may I have permission to speak?" She asked timidly.

"Of course, you don't have to ask for permission and you don't have to call me sir." Simon replied kindly. "Feel free to call me S-"

"Simon." She whispered. "Dr. Simon Tam, son of Gabriel and Reagan Tam, married to Kaylee Tam, father of Joshua and Benjamin Tam. Uncle to Reagan, Eliza, and Grace Cobb. Brother to River Cobb, formerly River Tam. My mother." She recited as if she were reading from a dictionary.

"Yes. How did you know all of that?" Simon asked.

"Just read it from you a few seconds ago." She answered as if it were no big deal.

Simon stared at her in amazement, he was accustomed to River picking up bits of thoughts from his mind or reading his emotions, but this girl was on an entirely different level of psychic ability.

Simon realized that his mouth was hanging open in astonishment and he quickly closed it.

"Um so you wanted to say something?" He asked when he was able to speak again.

"I was just wondering if I could meet her, my mother I mean." She asked meekly.

"Yes. Yes of course you can. Will you be alright while I go get her?" He asked uncomfortably.

"I'll be fine Sir, I mean Simon." She assured him.

Simon hurried to River and Jayne's bunk and then knocked softly on the hatch. River opened the hatch after a minute or so and looked expectantly up at her brother.

"She's awake." River said without him having to inform her.

"Yes and she wants to see you." Simon replied.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

On the way to the infirmary Simon told River what he'd discovered concerning the girl's blindness and what had caused it. She handled the information better than Simon had expected and was fully composed by the time they were standing outside the infirmary door.

"River before you go in there I should also tell you about her psychic abilities. She's unbelievably skilled at reading. She knew all about me by only reading me for a few seconds." Simon warned.

River nodded and gave Simon a reassuring smile. "Don't worry so much big brother."

She found the girl where Simon had left her holding her brother's hand tightly.

"Hello." River said quietly as she entered the room and shut the door.

"Ma'am." She girl replied stiffly.

"Please call me River."

The girl nodded and turned so that she was facing in River's direction. River took a moment to study the daughter she'd never known. She did look remarkably like Reagan, but there were many differences. Both girls had the same slight stature of their mother as well as her pale skin and large eyes. But while Reagan had her father's blue eyes and River's dark brown hair, this girl had bright green eyes and dark auburn hair.

"What's your name? River asked quietly when it didn't seem that the girl was going to begin the conversation.

"RT zero zero three." The girl replied quietly.

River was suddenly taken back to her own days at the Academy when her designation had been RT-001.

"Do you have another name, other than your designation?" River asked.

"London." The girl whispered.

"London, that's a beautiful name. What about your brother?"

"Asia, but I call him Az." London explained.

"London and Asia, very unique. Where did you get those names?"

"When we were four Az decided we needed real names and we were studying Earth-that-was geography at the time. We just picked words off the map that we liked." London explained.

River had to blink tears away from her eyes when she thought about having two children who'd been forced to name themselves because she hadn't been there to do it.

"Don't worry there isn't anyway you could have known about us." London assured her easily reading the thought from her mind.

It was slightly shocking to River to be read suddenly. She was used to being the one to take thoughts from the heads of others, not have hers taken.

"I- well thank you for saying so." River replied uncomfortably.

The mother and her daughter sat in uncomfortable silence, neither sure how to begin.

"How did you find me? I know you didn't end up in that alley by chance." River asked.

"We hacked into our files three years ago and found out who our mother was. River Tam; age fourteen when she entered the Academy, a prodigy who excelled in the program. Disappeared at seventeen when her brother Simon Tam initiated her escape. Whereabouts unknown for over a year until the Miranda incident was released. Found living on a Firefly class ship called Serenity captained by an ex-brown coat named Malcolm Reynolds. Location has been unknown for the last fifteen years." London recited.

"But how did you know I would be on Osiris today?" River asked.

"We weren't sure, but we've been checking the dock schedule everyday and three days ago we saw Serenity listed as coming in today. We hoped perhaps someone on board knew you. I guess we got lucky."

"I can't believe the Academy would let you have access to the Cortex like that." River pondered.

"They didn't. But we figured out how to work around the doctors and security a long time ago." London explained with a smirk.

"Impressive." River commented.

"Are you going to send us back?" London suddenly asked sounding fearful.

River hurried over to the young girl, knelt down in front of her, and grasped both of her hands tightly.

"No, of course not sweetie. You'll never go back to that place, I'll make sure of that." River promised.

London nodded and then pulled her hands out of River's grasp. River could pick up the unease coming from London's mind. She trusted no one in the Verse except for her brother and River realized that it would be a fight to get the girl to open up.

"Are you hungry?" River asked trying to change the subject to something lighter.

London shook her head but didn't reply.

"Is there anything you need at all? If you'd like to talk or ask me any questions that's fine." River offered trying to draw the girl out of her shell a bit.

"Is Az really alright? I can't feel him in my head at all." London whimpered after a second.

"He'll be just fine, I promise. My brother Simon is a brilliant doctor and he says Az will be just fine, he wouldn't say it if he didn't believe it." River assured her.

London nodded but still didn't look entirely convinced.

River wasn't sure what else to say or do to make the frightened girl feel better. She noticed after a few minutes that London kept yawning and her eyes were beginning to close on their own.

"You should get some sleep, I'm sure that the fight and the bump on your head took a lot out of you." River suggested.

"Can I sleep in here? I don't want Az to be by himself when he wakes up." London asked timidly.

"Of course you can sleep in here." River assured her quickly and began to pull out some extra blankets to make the counter exam area more comfortable.

Just as London had climbed into the make shift bed Simon knocked quietly on the door.

"Sorry to interrupt but I need to check his vitals before I go to bed and I should check London over once more before she goes back to sleep." He explained.

"Alright well I'll let you work Simon. Goodnight London, we'll talk more tomorrow." River replied kindly as she patted London's arm.

London nodded, but River noticed the look of trepidation that crossed the young girl's face when she mentioned talking more the following day.

River stepped outside the infirmary, but stayed and watched through the glass as Simon examined her children. Jayne's arms suddenly wrapped around River's shoulders from behind. Smiling gratefully at his comforting presence River leaned against him resting her head on his chest.

"How's she doin?" He asked.

"I don't know." River admitted after a few seconds. "She's much more stable than I was after I left the Academy, but she's extremely closed off. I can't really read much of anything from her and she seems afraid to open up at all."

Jayne nodded in understanding, the whiskers on his chin tickling against River's head as he did so. She turned and embraced her husband tightly so happy to have him there for comfort.

"Mal wants ta talk to ya up in the galley fore we head in ta bed." Jayne told her.

"I expected he would." River replied with a long sigh. She reluctantly let go of Jayne and walked towards the galley with her husband right behind her.

Mal was sitting at the table nursing a glass of whiskey when they walked into the room. Jayne poured himself a glass and offered River one, which she refused.

"So how's the girl doin?" Mal asked once the couple was settled at the table.

"I can't really say. She seems very stable, but closed off."

"Can ya read her at all?" Mal asked.

"All I can get from her is vague feelings, mostly mistrust of us and concern for her brother. Other than that her mind is very guarded."

"We need ta be careful. I know you ain't gonna wanna think about this Albatross, but could be them kids is a trap to get to ya. Seems like a mighty big coincidence that we just happened ta bump into yer kids right after their escape from the Academy." Mal pointed out a little reluctantly.

River nodded and took a minute to think before she spoke. "I've thought of that Mal. But until I see evidence to the contrary I have to believe in my children."

"River we don't know what coulda been planted in their heads. They been in that place their whole lives, who knows what kinda triggers they might have inside em." Mal argued.

"Trust me Mal you aren't telling me anything I haven't thought of myself. I understand we have to stay on guard with them, but I'm not going to abandon them if that's what you're suggesting. No matter what the Academy has turned them into, they're still my children and they didn't ask to be born into that place."

Mal placed one of his hands over River's to stop her tirade. "Now I ain't suggesting we dump em anyplace. I know they're yer kids and I know you're gonna wanna protect em. I just wanted to make sure you were aware of the dangers with these two." He defended.

River took a deep breath and nodded. "I'm sorry I shouldn't have assumed you would want me to leave them. It's been a very long day." She apologized.

"Yeah it has and I gotta feelin the next few are gonna be just as long." Mal agreed as he finished his drink. "Well I'm gonna go wave Inara, then head ta bed. You want I should tell her what's goin on? She could tell Eliza and Gracie, get em prepared for their new siblings."

River shook her head and then looked to Jayne to make sure he agreed. "No, feel free to tell Inara, but we'll wave tomorrow and tell the girls ourselves."

"Night ya'll." Mal called with a friendly wave as he headed up to the bridge to wave his wife.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

London listened as the doctor checked her brother's vitals and waited patiently for the doctor to examine her. She found the familiar smells and sounds of the infirmary comforting and hated herself for being comforted by something that reminded her of the Academy.

"London are you having any dizziness or nausea?" Simon asked as he walked over to her.

"I'm a little dizzy when I stand up, but I feel fine other than that." London replied as Simon took her blood pressure.

"Well a little dizziness is to be expected, but let me know if it gets worse or if you begin to feel nauseous." He instructed.

London nodded and then yawned once again.

"Alright well I'll let you get some sleep. If you need anything during the night, the comm is located just to the right of the door about five feet up. If you turn left outside the door and walk about seventeen steps the bathroom is the first door you'll come to on your right." Simon informed her.

"Um Dr. Tam?" London called as she climbed under the blanket.

"Yes? Oh and please call me Simon." He reminded.

"Sorry, um Simon how did you know how far it is to the bathroom? I mean that specifically?" She asked curiously.

"You don't already know from reading me?" He asked figuring she'd already have the answer.

"No I didn't read you again, I'm sorry I did it earlier. I was scared and nervous, but I shouldn't have read you like that." She apologized.

"You mean you can control what you read and when you do it?" Simon asked curiously.

"Yes of course I can." She responded sounding confused by his question. "River can't control it?" She asked after thinking about why Simon was asking.

"Well she's learned to control it a bit over the years, but she still can't just turn it off, it's more like she's learned to ignore what she doesn't wish to read." He explained.

"She can't turn it off? How horrible!" London exclaimed revealing more emotion than she had since she'd woken up.

"Well she's learned to deal with it and it doesn't make her unstable the way it used to." Simon replied.

"I can't imagine not being able to control it. It must be so loud in her head." London whispered sympathetically.

"She's said that before." Simon admitted sadly.

"Well goodnight London." He said after a minute passed by in silence.

"Simon?" She called before he could leave. "You never answered my question, about where the bathroom is."

Simon sighed and walked back over to his niece. "I was blind for five years, while we were still living on the ship. Even after all this time I think I could still find my way through this whole ship blindfolded."

"You- you were blind too?" She asked sounding shocked.

"Yes, a nova bomb exploded right in front of my face. But I was very lucky I was able to have an eye transplant and it gave me back my sight." He explained.

When she finally spoke again she asked the one question that Simon had known was coming, but was dreading just the same.

"There isn't anything you can do for me is there? I mean there isn't anything that can make me see again right?" She whispered sounding afraid.

Simon ran a hand over her forehead smoothing back her hair and noticed that she flinched slightly at the comforting gesture.

"I'm sorry bao-bei but no there isn't anything I can do. The Academy removed your occipital lobe and without it there isn't anyway for your brain to process visual images." He replied honestly.

London nodded and took a deep breath. "I figured that's what you were going to say, I just… wanted to make sure." She finally finished.

"I'm so sorry, if there was anything I could do, I'd do it. London do you have any idea what the Academy was trying to do? They wouldn't just blind you purposefully for no reason, do you have any idea why they hurt you like that?" He asked.

London turned over so that she was facing away from him and shook her head. "No I don't know." She whispered quietly, Simon didn't have to be a reader to know that she was lying.

He decided not to push the issue any further, figuring she would explain when she was ready.

"Alright well if you need anything tonight, anything at all please use the comm unit. I'll come back first thing in the morning to check on your brother, he should be waking up about then." Simon instructed warmly.

"I will." She promised so quietly that Simon wasn't even sure if she'd really spoken.

London hadn't realized how exhausted she was until she lay down, but she fell asleep almost as soon as Simon left the room.

A dream of the Academy caused her to wake up violently and she forced herself to stifle the scream that threatened to burst out of her. Her trainers at the Academy had taught her for as long as she could remember to keep an internal clock, so that she would always be conscious of what time it was. It was this ability that told her it was still the middle of the night, she figured she'd been asleep only three hours or so.

Standing up from her makeshift bed London moved to her brother's side and placed a hand on his forehead. She was pleased to find that she could sense his mind again, it was faint but it was there.

Once she knew that Az was alright London headed toward the bathroom. She followed the route that Simon had described to her and found the room without any trouble.

It was leaving the bathroom when she ran into a problem. No matter how hard she tried she couldn't remember which direction she had turned to enter the door nor could she remember which direction Simon had told her. She supposed that the stress of the day combined with a concussion were to blame for her forgetfulness, but that didn't stop her from feeling like a failure. Not only had she been trained to remember details like this her entire life, but she was a gorram genius. She shouldn't have a problem remembering whether she'd turned left or right. But despite her training and superior intelligence she still found herself standing in the hallway with no clue how to get back to the infirmary.

She figured she could pick a direction and hopefully find the infirmary, but it was the middle of the night and she was afraid of walking into the wrong room and disturbing someone. She was so caught up in her internal debate that she didn't hear or sense the person coming up behind her until a hand fell on her shoulder. London let out a small shriek and whirled around to face the person who'd touched her shoulder, her body instinctively going into a fighting stance.

"Whoa sorry bout that. Didn't mean ta scare ya."

"It's alright." London whispered while backing up so that she was pressed against the wall.

"Ya look like you might be a little lost. Want me ta show you where the infirmary is?"

London nodded slightly and blushed a bit in embarrassment. Reaching out uncertainly she found the man's shoulder and held on so he could lead her.

"So we ain't met yet, I'm Luke. Luke Reynolds." He introduced as they walked.

"London." She replied quietly.

"You don't talk much do ya?" Luke asked as they walked to the infirmary door.

London shrugged. "I guess not. Never had anyone to talk to really, except for Az."

"Az is yer brother right?" Luke asked and received another nod from London.

"Dad said ya'll took down six purple bellies fore he got shot, that's pretty shiny. Aunt River taught all us kids self defenses type stuff, but there ain't no way I could take on that many men." Luke complimented.

"I didn't know River was your aunt. I didn't think she was related to Captain Reynolds."

Luke chuckled a little. "Well she ain't my aunt by blood, but my folks and her and everyone else just always considered themselves family, specially after Miranda."

London nodded in understanding. "I read about Miranda from a file the Academy had, they were very brave to go there and to broadcast that file. It was very dangerous."

"Yeah well one thing you'll learn bein in this family, ya do the right thing even when it ain't smart." Luke said with another chuckle.

London couldn't help but notice what a nice laugh the boy had. She liked the way he talked to her like a normal girl, not like some traumatized mental patient.

Luke saw London stifle a yawn and lean back against the wall for support.

"Well guess I best be letting ya get back ta sleep. I gotta head up and take my watch on the bridge. But maybe we could talk more tomorrow if ya want?" He asked.

London looked surprised at that, but nodded and even gave him the briefest of smiles. "Alright, I'd like that."

As she turned and entered the infirmary her hair brushed against Luke's arm and suddenly he noticed just pretty it was; dark red, long, and silky. When he thought of talking to her tomorrow he felt a rush of anticipation and nerves that he hadn't expected. Shaking his head to clear the distracting thoughts Luke headed up to the bridge to start his watch.

Josh sat in the pilot's seat staring out at the Black looking bored when he entered.

"Finally you got any idea how bad I gotta piss? What took ya so long?" Josh asked as he stood up eagerly.

"Sorry, I found that girl out in the hall, she was kinda lost so I helped her back to the infirmary." Luke explained trying to look nonchalant.

Unfortunately for him he and Josh had been best friends since before they could remember.

"You like her don't ya?" Josh asked teasingly.

"What? No I don't, I mean I don't even know her." Luke argued.

"Yeah you always get red in the face like that when you like a girl. Come on admit it ya like her." Josh prodded.

"Guess she is really pretty, but I mean you heard what my dad and yer dad said. She's probably all messed up from that Academy place and besides she's Aunt River's kid."

"So it ain't like yer really related to Aunt River, she ain't yer cousin or anything. Did she seem messed up when ya talked to her?" Josh asked curiously.

"No, I mean she seemed pretty scared and real quiet, but she didn't seem crazy or nothin." Luke answered.

"So what's the problem?"

Luke wasn't sure how to reply so he instead changed the subject. "Hey don't you gotta pee or somethin?"

"Way to avoid the topic Luke, good job." Josh mocked as he headed out of the bridge.

Once he was alone Luke sat down in the pilot's chair and stared out at the stars. He didn't get to be in the Black very often and he always treasured the time he got to spend alone on the bridge, just him and the stars. This night however he couldn't seem to concentrate on just how beautiful the sky was, his thoughts were instead preoccupied with thoughts of red hair, pale skin, and green eyes.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

River and Jayne spent the majority of the next morning waving their daughters. Eliza and Grace had stayed on Maison with Inara. They both handled the news of their long lost siblings with excitement. Gracie the youngest was especially ecstatic with the idea of having a big brother of her very own. She had three older male cousins, a father, and two uncles who all doted on her because she was the baby of the family. Gracie figured one more person to spoil her was just fine. Eliza hadn't said much, but she had always been the quietest of the three girls and River knew she simply needed time to process everything on her own.

Reagan hadn't handled the news as well as her younger siblings. She offered to come home from the ballet camp, but River insisted that she stay and enjoy herself. Of her three children Reagan was the only one old enough to remember River having episodes. She'd been just a little girl when River had still been unstable, but the memories of her mother screaming and cowering in terror stayed with her. She could still see the way her mother had screamed and how her father had had to hold her down while Uncle Simon stuck a syringe in her arm to sedate her.

As soon as River told Reagan about London and Asia those memories began to swim through the young girl's mind. River could see them clearly in her daughter's head and felt guilty that it was her fault that her daughter carried such memories. She knew that Reagan feared watching her new brother and sister suffer the same terrors she'd watched her mother go through so long ago.

Once they were finished waving the girls River was eager to head to the infirmary and check on her children, but she could sense that Simon was with them and that perhaps he was the person who they needed the most just then. She took a deep breath and tried to summon her patience as she followed Jayne to the galley for breakfast.

Simon hurried to the infirmary early that morning hoping to get there before either of the kids woke up.

London however was awake when Simon entered the room. She was sitting in the stool beside her brother's bed holding his hand.

"Good morning London, did you sleep well?" Simon asked softly when she turned towards him.

London nodded and gave him a small smile. "Yes. That was the first night I can ever remember sleeping without having an orderly wake me up during rounds."

"I'm sorry you were in that place. It's not fair what they did to you or to him." Simon replied sadly.

"Or to River." London added.

Simon didn't respond and busied himself checking Az's vital signs.

"How is he?" London asked after listening to what Simon was doing.

"Very well. His vitals are normal. He'll be sore for quite awhile and he'll have to rest a lot, but he'll be just fine." Simon assured her.

London let out a relieved breath and smiled gratefully. "Thank you for taking care of him. If he'd died I- I don't know what I would have done."

Simon gave her shoulder a friendly squeeze and was happy to see that she didn't flinch away from his touch.

"I can sense him more today, in my head. Guess that means he really will be alright." She commented assuring herself that she wasn't going to lose her brother.

"Well are you hungry for breakfast? Kaylee cooked and she makes great breakfasts."

"Kaylee is your wife right?" London asked.

"Yes, she's the most wonderful person in the world. You'll like her I promise. So how about that breakfast?"

As if in response to Simon's questions London's stomach growled loudly.

"How long has it been since you've eaten anything?" Simon asked noting how skinny both she and her brother were.

"Three days." She admitted quietly.

"Three days? Why wasn't the Academy feeding you?" Simon asked.

"They were but they always put drugs in the food. We needed to be clear so we could escape, the only way to do that was to not eat the food." She explained.

Simon wanted to question her more about the escape, how they had done it and why they'd waited for so long before trying it, but he held the questions back. London seemed to be more comfortable and relaxed but Simon didn't want to push her and have her close back up.

"Let's go get you something to eat." He said.

"I should really stay here with Az, I don't want him to wake up alone." She protested.

"I'll stay with him while you're gone, I promise. You go eat some breakfast and maybe get cleaned up and changed out of that hospital outfit. I'll come get you as soon as he wakes up." Simon suggested.

London looked like she wanted to refuse, but her stomach growled loudly once again and she finally gave in with a smile. Simon led her to the galley where Kaylee was fixing pancakes for the group. The rest of the crew sat around the table waiting to eat and looked up in surprise when Simon walked in with London.

River stood up from the table to join Simon and London.

"How are you this morning London?" She asked.

"I'm fine, better than yesterday." She replied quietly.

"Are you hungry? Kaylee is making pancakes." River asked.

London nodded enthusiastically and smiled. "Starving actually." She admitted.

"I'd better get back to the infirmary. I told London that after breakfast she could get cleaned up and changed out of these hospital clothes." Simon explained to River.

"Of course. After that we can fix you up a room in the passenger dorm if you'd like." River suggested.

London looked a little overwhelmed by everything, but nodded and gave River a brave smile. Simon patted her arm once more before heading back to the infirmary.

Simon busied himself by going over Az's scans while he waited for him to wake up. Surprisingly Simon found very little damage done to the boy's brain. He could see some signs of manipulations done to his amygdala, but nothing as severe as what had been done to River.

Fifteen minutes into his study of the scans Simon heard Az sigh deeply and then he began to shift around on the bed. Simon moved to his side just as the younger man's eyes opened groggily.

"London?" He whispered in a hoarse voice.

"Don't worry your sister is fine." Simon assured him.

It took a moment for Az to remember what had happened. "Where am I?"

"We're in the Black on a ship called Serenity. You were shot and I had to operate to remove the bullet, you've been unconscious for nearly fourteen hours." Simon explained.

"Is London alright? Where is she?" Az asked frantically.

"She's just fine. She's up in the galley eating breakfast."

"We're on Serenity?" Az asked suddenly realizing what the doctor had said.

"Yes, we're headed towards a small moon named Maison where we live." Simon replied.

"Do you know River Tam? We're looking for her, the last anyone knew she was on a ship named Serenity."

"River's my sister and she's here on board." Simon answered.

"You're Simon Tam?" Az asked his eyes wide with shock and disbelief.

"Yes I'm Simon, your uncle. Az would it be alright if I examine you, I just need to check and make sure there isn't any nerve damage from the bullet wound."

Az nodded and was quiet while Simon did the exam, only speaking when Simon asked him a question regarding how he felt.

"Can I see London?" He finally asked once Simon was finished.

"Of course. I'll go get her." Simon replied kindly and hurried from the room.

He found London in River and Jayne's bunk talking quietly to River. She was laughing at something River had said. It warmed his heart to hear his niece laughing and opening up a little. Feeling bad about having to interrupt Simon knocked on the door.

He saw that River and dressed London in some of her clothes and brushed out her hair.

"London Az is awake and asking for you." He informed her.

London's smile grew even wider and she hurried to Simon so that he could lead her back to the infirmary.

Simon stayed outside the infirmary and shut the door so that the siblings could have a bit of privacy, he figured they had much they would want to talk about. He did watch for a bit through the window as London hugged her brother, tears of relief pouring down her cheeks. He smiled when he saw London pull up the stool and sit down beside her brother. She was talking quickly and smiling while she explained everything that had happened while he'd been unconscious.

After a few minutes both the siblings were smiling and talking excitedly. Simon left them alone so that he could go get some food. He was encouraged by the change in London and hoped that the siblings would be able to find happiness now that they were away from the Academy.


	8. Chapter 8

"Az this is our mother River Cobb

"Az this is our mother River Cobb." London introduced nervously.

London already liked and trusted River, but she knew her brother wouldn't trust anyone easily. He wasn't nearly as good at reading people as she was and probably wouldn't be able to pick up River's good intentions the way London was able to.

"I'm very happy to meet you Az, I'm glad you're doing alright." River said warmly and gestured to his bandaged abdomen.

"It's um nice to meet you too." Az said stiffly.

"Has London caught you up on all that has occurred during your unconsciousness?" River asked.

"Yes she explained what happened. Thank you for helping us I know it has put you and your family in danger." Az said quietly, still sounding stiff and uncomfortable.

"Gratitude isn't necessary you are family as well, couldn't leave you once I found you." River stated as if that were the most obvious thing in the world.

"Uh yeah…" Az trailed off as he studied the mother he'd never known.

It amazed him to see how much London resembled River, he figured it was obvious to anyone that they were mother and daughter. He wasn't sure what to think of River, she seemed nice enough but Az had learned a long time ago that it didn't matter how someone seemed it mattered what they did. There had been plenty of nice doctors and trainers at the Academy and every one of them had done terrible things to him and his sister.

London smirked when she picked up the thoughts in her brother's head, sometimes she really did know him too well.

River stayed in the room for another half hour, asking questions of her new found offspring. She knew that neither of them was comfortable around her, especially her son, who trusted no one in the Verse besides his sister. She tried to keep her distance and not make either of them feel smothered, but it was extremely difficult, she wanted nothing more than to give them the motherly love that she hadn't been able to during their lives so far.

"Hey Tross you gonna get up here and chart a new course for us er not?" Mal grumbled through the intercom.

River gave an exasperated sigh and rolled her eyes. "He loves getting to be a Captain again, Mal lives to give orders and gets to give far too few of them on the ranch." She explained as she headed out of the room.

London perched herself on the side of the bed and fumbled to find her brother's hand. Az quickly grasped her hand and gave it a squeeze.

"So?" She asked after a minute of quiet.

"So what?" Az asked.

"You know what I mean, what do you think of her?" London prodded.

Az sighed and scowled up at the ceiling.

"Don't make angry faces." London admonished.

"How'd you know I was making a face?" Az asked.

"Because I know you too well little brother. So what do you think of her?" London asked again.

"She seems nice, but have you read her?"

"As much as I can, she's a strong reader, it's hard to get the thoughts out of her head. But I haven't read anything that should make us distrust her. Her or the rest of the crew, they seem very genuine about wanting to help us, especially Simon." London explained.

"Well that's good I guess. So do you want to go to Maison? I mean we don't have to go live with them." Az stated firmly.

"Where else do you suggest we go? We're wanted fugitives now, it's not like we can just go anywhere. We both know for a fact that the Alliance has no idea where River and her family are living now, they won't be able to find us. Plus don't you think it might be nice to have a family? Some people to care about us other than just each other." London replied.

"We've always done fine just being the two of us." Az stated defensively.

"True but that doesn't mean it won't be nice to have more family."

"Alright I guess so." Az relented.

"We have three sisters, Reagan, Eliza, and Grace. And Jayne is very nice." London said trying her best to convince her brother that this was a good idea.

"Who's Jayne? Another sister?"

"No he's our stepfather." London explained.

Az snorted with laughter. "His name is Jayne really?"

"I know, makes our names seem much less odd." She agreed.

"So you're telling me when we get to Maison I'm going to have four sisters? That's a lot of girls." Az complained still unwilling to be happy about their new found family.

"Well Simon has two sons and Mal has a son, so there will be other boys around as well. Josh and Luke are both close to our age and Luke is really nice, I haven't really talked to Josh yet."

"Luke huh? Is he the Captain's son?" Az asked.

London nodded and tried to stop her cheeks from turning red, unfortunately it didn't work.

"So we've been out of the Academy one day and you already found a guy? Am I going to have to threaten him and do the whole over protective brother thing?" Az teased.

"I haven't found a guy, he's just nice that's all." London defended.

"Right and your cheeks are bright red because it's hot in here." Az continued.

"Look he helped me out last night and seemed funny, but it doesn't matter what I think of him anyway, it's not like he's going to want to be with me." She replied, sounding much more serious than she had only seconds before.

"Why wouldn't he want to be with you?" Az asked.

"Because of you know…" She trailed off uncomfortably and gestured towards her useless eyes.

"Hey London any guy that doesn't want to be with you just because you can't see is crazy." Az said angrily.

London smiled and traced her fingers over her brother's face softly. "Thanks little brother."

Az sighed, "Why do you insist on calling me that, its not even a minute difference!"

"I know but it bugs you." London giggled.

"I can't believe how cruel you are. I mean picking on your poor defenseless brother, who just yesterday got shot and nearly died, that's just cold." He complained with mock hurt and then yawned loudly.

"I guess I should let you get some sleep now." London said and leaned over to kiss her brother's cheek.

"Alright guess I am tired, wake me up if you need anything." Az ordered firmly.

"I will, get some rest." London ordered in return.

London was halfway across the room when she stopped and turned back to face her brother.

"It's going to be good on Maison Az. I just have a feeling that it's going to be good having a family. Please try to be happy about it."

Az felt his resolve begin to melt when he saw the happy and hopeful look on his sister's face. She hadn't smiled this much since before they'd done the surgery and taken her eye sight. If having a family would make his sister happy Az was willing to go along with it.

"Alright London if you think it'll be good, I'll try to be happy about it." Az said his words slurring slightly as he began to fall asleep.

"Thanks little brother." She whispered and headed out of the infirmary.

"Brat." He mumbled after her.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Az sighed and shifted in the infirmary bed trying to find a comfortable position to sleep in. He'd been in the infirmary on Serenity for three days and was so bored he thought he might go crazy. At the Academy injuries were quickly treated and the students were sent back to training. For as long as he could remember he had been taught to ignore pain and injuries. But here on Serenity he'd been told to stay in bed and rest. The inactivity was worse than the gunshot wound in his opinion.

Two hours later he'd just managed to doze off when London's screams jolted him from his sleep. She wasn't screaming out loud, but he could hear her inside his head as clearly as if she were right next to him. He could tell from the waves of terror coming from her that she was having a nightmare, she'd been having them regularly since the operation.

Wincing at the pain in his stomach, Az pulled himself out of bed and headed out of the infirmary, moving at a slow jog. He'd insisted the day before that London move into a regular passenger dorm instead of sleeping on the counter in the infirmary. He'd wanted her to be more comfortable, but was now regretting that decision as he painfully made his way to her room.

After a few more steps he felt warm liquid dripping down his leg and looked down to find that his incision was bleeding. He cursed quietly under his breath, pressed a hand to his bleeding wound, and continued down the hall to where he sensed his sister.

Just as he reached the door to London's room the screams in his head intensified as London began to scream out loud as well as in his mind. He hurried into her room and sat down on the side of his sister's bed. London continued to scream as she thrashed around in her bed.

"Hey London wake up. Come on big sister wake up." Az urged as he gently shook her shoulder.

London's eyes flew open and darted around wildly. Her breathing came in ragged gasps and tears streamed down her face.

"London you're fine. We're on Serenity remember?" Az whispered, he held her hand tightly and tried to make his thoughts as calm as possible so that she could pick up on them.

"Az turn on the lights." She whispered sounding confused and still more asleep than awake.

"London I can't, you just need to wake up and talk to me." Az whispered.

From behind him Az heard others enter the room and sensed River, Simon, and Jayne standing in the doorway. He ignored them and continued to focus solely on his sister.

After another minute of him whispering to her London began to breathe normally and squeezed his hand in return.

"Az? You shouldn't be here you're supposed to be in bed." London finally said.

"Don't worry about me I'm fine." He assured her, but when he looked down he was shocked to see that his entire shirt was soaked in blood.

"Well you should still be in bed." London argued.

River was the first person to notice the small puddle of blood pooling on the floor near Az's feet. She moved forward obviously concerned and was about to call for Simon when Az stopped her with a sharp look. River nodded understanding that he didn't want his sister upset by finding out her brother was bleeding.

"Az I can sit with your sister for awhile so that you can return to the infirmary." River offered.

London nodded and wiped the tears from her cheeks. "Yeah you should go lay back down little brother."

"I can stay with you if you want." Az offered, unwilling to leave her if she was still frightened.

"No I'm fine now, go back to the infirmary." His sister assured him.

"Alright but if you need me, come down and get me dong ma?" He said sternly.

London gave him a reassuring smile. "Promise."

Az stood up from the bed and turned to leave the room. When Simon noticed the blood drenching the front of Az he began to rush forward. Az shook his head and put up a hand to silence Simon from speaking. He managed to walk from the room on his own, but his knees buckled as soon as he left the room. Jayne and Simon each hurried to grab one of his arms and quickly helped him back to the infirmary.

Simon hurriedly cut the soaked shirt off and swore loudly when he saw the damage done to the incision.

"I think you ripped every stitch out of this incision." Simon muttered as he began to clean up the blood.

"Sorry, but London was having a nightmare, she needed me." Az replied defensively.

Simon didn't comment further, he understood perfectly the need to protect a sibling.

"He gonna be ok?" Jayne asked from the door to the infirmary. Even with the years that had passed since Jayne and Simon had been taken and tortured by Niska Jayne still hated any medical room.

"He'll be fine, I just have to stitch him back up and probably do a transfusion." Simon answered as he began to numb up the incision area.

"Right well I'm gonna go check on River'n London. Az ya need anything?" Jayne asked, eager to be away from the infirmary.

"I'm fine Jayne." Az assured him.

Simon worked in silence for a few minutes before he looked up at his nephew.

"Does London have nightmares a lot?"

Az shifted uncomfortably and cleared his throat. "Yeah I guess. Two or three times a week ever since…" He trailed off and looked away from Simon.

"Since they did the surgery?" He asked.

Az nodded but didn't reply.

"Az if she's having nightmares this regularly it could be a symptom of post traumatic shock. That could lead to a number of different psychological problems." Simon waited for a moment, hoping that Az would talk to him, but he continued to stare across the room in silence.

"Maybe if you told me what happened I'd know how to help her." Simon pointed out.

"You're not a psychiatrist are you? What makes you think you can help her?" Az snapped angrily.

"River told you about the years of mental instability she suffered after the Academy didn't she?" Simon asked.

"Yeah." Az grumbled.

"I was the only doctor she had then. I think I have some experience and knowledge that could be helpful." Simon pointed out. "But if I don't know what happened there's nothing I can do."

Az was quiet for over a minute, but finally he took a deep breath and looked at Simon.

"They did the surgery five months ago, they took her in the middle of the night. I said goodnight to her and then the next morning she was just gone. For almost three weeks I had no idea where she was or what they were doing to her. I begged the doctors to tell me where she was, I hacked into the computer system but there wasn't any information in her file. They put me in a solitary cell and started drugging me after I killed an orderly." Az explained.

"They let me out of solitary after a week and the next day London was back in her room. She was heavily sedated and she had a bandage wrapped around her head. She didn't wake up for almost a day. She was terrified when she woke up and realized she couldn't see." Az's voice cracked and he stopped talking.

"Did she know what they'd done to her? Or why?" Simon asked.

Az rubbed his eyes and shook his head. "No she didn't remember anything. To her it was like she went to bed and woke up the next morning blind. She didn't even know she'd been taken anywhere. She started crying when I told her she'd been gone for almost a month."

"Why would they do that? What possible reason could the Alliance have to purposefully handicap someone they'd spent so much time and money training?" Simon asked angrily, more to himself than to Az.

"For the same reason they did everything else to us, they were trying to make her a better reader. I managed to hack into her medical report a couple months ago, it was an experiment in creating a stronger psychic ability." Az explained bitterly.

"How could blinding her possibly make her a better reader?" Simon wondered.

"They figured that if she lost one of her senses then her other senses would heighten to compensate for the loss, they wanted to find out if a sixth sense would grow stronger as well." Az replied.

Simon nodded in understanding, remembering clearly how much more sensitive his other senses had become when he'd lost his own sight.

"Did it work?" Simon asked curiously.

Az sighed and nodded sadly. "Yes. She was talented before, but now it's unbelievable what she can do. She doesn't even have to try to read people, anything she wants to know is just there for her to find out. I used to be able to block my thoughts from her, keep her out of my head if I wanted, but now, there isn't anything anyone can hide from her."

"And the Alliance knows she can do this?" Simon questioned.

"I think so, they were testing her almost daily after the surgery and she was drugged for a lot of it, I don't think there was anyway she could have hidden it from them." Az explained and then yawned loudly.

"Well I'd better let you get some rest now. That pain medicine is going to make you drowsy. Maybe we can talk more about this tomorrow?" Simon asked as he switched off the light in the infirmary.

Simon hurried away from the infirmary and sat down heavily on the old couch near the galley. His mind thought back over everything that Az had revealed to him. He'd been upset about what had been done to London before this, but now fear wormed into his head as well. If London was really as powerful as her brother claimed Simon knew there was nothing the Alliance wouldn't do to get her back.

Everyone on Serenity had known that bringing London and Az on board would be dangerous. As Simon sat in the darkened room he felt a cold chill crawl up his spine as he realized that his entire family was in more danger than any of them had realized, maybe in more danger than they'd ever been in before.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Author's note- I know I don't update for a really long time and now I've gone and updated two stories in one night! I'm trying to get all of my stories finished up so they won't be hanging over my head unfinished. I'll update as quickly as possible, but it still may be a while between updates.


End file.
